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The dashboard chat is always available. A chat channel is an extra way to reach the same agents from a chat app that you already use. Squad has three chat channels: Telegram, Discord, and Slack. All three are optional. You can connect them at any time. To open them, go to Integrations > Channels, or open Settings and click Telegram, Discord, or Slack under CONNECTIONS.

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How a channel works

Every channel works with bots. You create the bot in the chat app, and you paste its token into Squad. Squad then sets up the bot on your workspace computer. The bot settings live there, and the channel screens read them from there. Each bot has three settings:
  • Answered by: the one agent that answers the bot. The default is The lead (default), which is your lead agent. You can pick any other agent.
  • Who can message it: the list of people who can send the bot direct messages. Everyone else is refused.
  • Group or channel answers: whether the bot also answers in group chats or channels.
You can connect more than one bot, for example one bot for each agent or one bot for each audience. Each bot has its own agent and its own list. Agents know which channels are connected. An agent can also post to a connected channel by itself, for example when you ask your lead to post a summary in a Slack channel.
Ask your lead

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The three channels side by side

The how-to pages have the exact steps:

Connect Telegram

Connect Discord

Connect Slack

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Who can reach your agents

The list under Who can message it controls direct messages on every channel. Groups and channels work differently on each chat app:
  • Telegram checks every sender, also in groups. In a group chat, the bot answers only people on its list. When you turn on group chats, you give no new person access.
  • Discord does not check senders in server channels. When server channels are on, the bot answers anyone who @mentions it in a server that it was invited to. To invite a bot, a person needs the Manage Server permission on that server.
  • Slack does not check senders in channels. When channels are on, the app answers anyone who @mentions it in a channel that it was invited to. Only people in a channel can invite the app to it.
So on Discord and Slack, the people who can add the bot to a server or channel decide where it works. If a bot must answer only the people on its list, turn off its server channels or channels. Then it answers direct messages only. You are always on the list of every Telegram bot, and you cannot remove yourself. On Discord and Slack you are the first person on the list, but you can remove yourself when someone else is on it. A Discord or Slack list cannot be empty, because an empty list answers nobody.

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Chat channels and connected apps are different things

A chat channel is a way for you to talk to your agents. A connected app is a tool that your agents use to do work. See Connect apps. Slack is both, and you connect each one separately:
  • On Integrations > Channels, you connect the Slack bot that you chat with.
  • On Integrations > Connected apps, you give agents Slack as a tool. With it, they can read channels and post messages as part of their work.
When Slack or Discord is connected as a chat channel, an agent does not offer you a card to connect the same product as an app, unless you tell it that you want the app too.

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What channels do not do

  • Squad has no chat channel for WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, or Webex. These are only apps. Agents can use them as tools after you connect them on Connected apps.
  • The Telegram main bot does not accept other people. To give someone access to an agent on Telegram, connect an extra bot and add them to its list.
  • Do not share a bot between workspaces. If you have more than one workspace, create a new bot for each one.
  • A bot does not answer while the agent software on your workspace computer restarts. Most changes on the channel screens cause a restart, and the bot is back after a short time.

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Messages on every channel screen

The Telegram, Discord, and Slack screens share these messages. Each channel page lists its own messages too.